Assists and devices to aid elderly, infirm, handicapped or disabled individuals range from simple walkers and hearing aids to artificial implants that replace weakened, decayed or malfunctioning bones, joints and organs. The elderly and the handicapped face physical constraints, inconveniences and difficulties when accomplishing or performing even the simplest, perfunctory tasks—such as seating themselves at the dining table or at a desk. For example, the standard way for an elderly or handicapped individual to seat himself or herself adjacent and forward to, for example, a dining table, is to first position the chair a sufficient distance from the table so that the individual can first be positioned between the chair and table. The difficulties now arise as the individual must drag or slide the chair to the table with the individual half-standing so that his or her full weight is not upon the chair. This is generally a difficult, if not impossible task, as elderly or handicapped individuals simply lack the arm and upper body strength to drag a chair (whether it is a folding chair or a heavy wooden chair) across a floor. Given this insuperable impediment to seating at a table, one option is to position the chair at an angle to the table so that the individual can partially squeeze onto the chair so as to avoid the difficulty of having to drag the chair forward and adjacent to the table.
However, this maneuver can lead to unpleasant and dangerous falls, as elderly and handicapped individuals are generally physically unsteady. This problem of properly seating an elderly, disabled or handicapped individual at a table is not obviated when other people—family members, spouse, health aides, for example—are available to provide assistance. For instance, even if the chair has been moved far enough away from the table so that the elderly individual can sit in the chair, the family member will still need to turn, move or push the chair, with the individual seated thereon, forward to the table. This is not an easy task even if the elderly individual is considered, in general terms, small and lightweight. Thus, various types of devices have been conceived to assist in the positioning of an individual adjacent and forward to a table or desk. Such devices have also been broadened to assist an individual in entering and exiting from the seat of an automotive vehicle.
For example, the Geisel patent (U.S. Pat. No. 4,034,947) discloses a rotating seat device that includes a pair of rotatably interconnected circular pad members with the upper pad member rotatable relative to the lower pad member, and the lower pad member frictionally engaging the seat cover of the seat for maintaining its stationary position thereon.
The Tabayashi patent (U.S. Pat. No. 4,659,050) discloses a rotary support device that includes upper and lower rings rotatable relative to each other by enclosing therebetween ball bearings held in place by a separator.
The Grappo patent (U.S. Pat. No. 5,427,426) discloses a seat accessory that includes a seat element having an ergonomic saddle-shaped configuration and that rotates on a base element that is attached to a vehicle seat for allowing the ingress and egress of an individual to and from a vehicle.
The Janisch patent (U.S. Pat. No. 5,441,329) discloses a rotatable seat that includes a top plate pivotally secured to a bottom plate, and the top plate including a polygonal periphery for engaging and holding thereon an upholstery pad.
The Koester et al. patent (U.S. Pat. No. 5,474,353) discloses a pivoting seat portion for vehicles that includes a fixed seat portion on which a pivotal seat portion is mounted so that the pivot seat portion can pivot slightly past the vehicle sill or rocker edge of the vehicle seat thereby facilitating vehicle ingress and egress.
The Lu patent (U.S. Pat. No. 5,779,309) discloses a swivel plate device that includes a rotating plate pivotally interconnected to a base plate through a main post with a cover placed upon the rotating plate and a return spring interconnecting the rotating plate with the base plate.
The Ropp patent (U.S. Pat. No. 6,447,065 B1) discloses an adjustable swivel assembly that includes a first swivel plate, a second swivel plate, and a plurality of ball bearings enclosed therebetweeen and in contact with an adjustment plate so that the pressure on the bearings can be increased or decreased for adjusting the suspension of the seat. Nonetheless, despite the ingenuity of the above devices, there remains a need for a swivel seat device that facilitates the positioning of an individual, especially a handicapped or elderly individual, adjacent to a table or desk while avoiding the problem of having to push, lift or move the entire chair, with the individual seated thereon, to the table so that the individual can be properly seated.